Anecdotally

Anecdote 1:

On the cab ride home, Sean, Mario, and I were seated in the cab, in that order, with Mario stuck in the middle. Sean was in complete awe of the taxi T.V. (oooh! comercials! on the back of the seat!). He was laughing hysterically at the commercials, I was giggling a bit at how overly entertained he was, and Mario wasn't even breaking a smile.

An ad for Wolverine came on, and the announcer went "He returned to a safer job as a lumberjack," or something to that effect, and Sean, right on cue, started singing the lumberjack song. Mario, being Mario, glanced at him, then resumed his general relaxed expression of staring unemotionally into the distance.

Sean looked at Mario. "Have you never heard that song before?" Mario gave a slight shake of the head. He leaned over Mario and looked at me. "Have you heard that song before?"

"I've heard some of my friends sing it."

He resumed his interrogation of Mario. "You've seriously never heard that before? I cannot believe that you have never heard the Lumberjack Song!"

"No," said Mario.

"Well," said Sean, gearing up for a monologue. "It's this lumberjack singing a song-"

No shit, I thought to myself.

"-and then he starts going on about hanging out in bars and wearing women's clothing and being a transvestite. It's REALLY funny!"

"Oh." Mario had a decidedly nervous expression on his face. Sean started singing again, and Mario just sat there, looking grumpy.

I have no idea what his problem was, and after we got on the train and walked down from the rear car all the way to the front looking for seats, he was in a much better mood. He actually smiled at me after helping with one of the doors (I was confused as to why he smiled, but, eventually, I realized that I had started grinning at how ridiculous it was that we were walking down the entire flipping train). We eventually found seats, with Mario and I on one side and Sean on the other side and a bit to the back. Sean promptly took out his phone and spent the entire ride on it, while Mario and I had our little double seat, which didn't even have a window (most bizarre) to ourselves. Mario seemed quite happy, and remarked, "I knew it would all work out."

I chuckled a bit. "Okay," I said, a bit incredulous.

"It's because I had you guys with me. Good luck charms, and all that."

I looked at him as if he was insane because, clearly, he was. "Whatever you say, Mario."

After we had been seated for a while, we had the following conversation related to U.S., which I think Vicky will appreciate.

Me: there's actually a corner in Harlem where Malcolm X boulevard meets Martin Luther King boulevard.

Mario: No, there isn't.

Me: Yes there is. I saw it when I was sitting in the cab by myself last week with nothing better to do than watch street signs.

Mario: That's ironic.

Me: I'm not sure if ironic is quite the right term, but it's certainly something. I can't really think of anything to call it better than ironic, though.

Mario: Yeah.

Me: It sounds like something we'd talk about in US.

Mario, quickly: I call it.

Me: No way! I thought of it first!

Mario: But I said it was ironic, and I thought we should bring it up in class.

Me: But if I hadn't told you, you wouldn't have anything.

Mario, frowning: When do you have social studies?

Me: Period 1. I win.

Mario: Fine, but you have to mention me. Like, say 'Mario and I just happened to be talking about this' or something.

Me: Sure. But, well, I've mentioned it in my quarter group before, so Opmin didn't hear, but it might be weird to bring it up again, and I might forget anyways, so you bring it up too, and mention my name.

Mario: okay.

When I brought it up in class, Opmin said that it definitely wasn't ironic, and proceeded to inform us that she hated the Alanis Morisette song "Ironic" with a fiery passion, and that every street named MLK was incredibly seedy and dangerous. Whatever you say, Mrs. Opmin. When I mentioned it at lunch, Julie's ears opened right up, and while she briefly referred to Mario as Voldy, I don't think she noticed that I noticed, so it's all good. I think.